The Bend in the Road (A Karna-Arjun what-if story)

Trigarta's suicide squad

The latter sent a volley of perfectly aimed arrows, forcing them to scatter and injuring several before he let out a howl that froze Abhimanyu's blood.

"Bhrata Lakshmana," wailed Vrishaketu, urging his chariot forward, right at the enemy battalion. "I am sorry, I am sorry--are you okay?"

Vrishasena and Abhimanyu had finally located Lakshmana's chariot. He was not seriously hurt; he had not lost his weapons and was bleeding only mildly; he must have only caught a graze.

But Vrishaketu seemed to have been driven out of his mind, because he did not stop his chariot.

"Vrishaketu, he is fine, don't go any closer, you idiot," bellowed Vrishasena.

Lakshmana and Abhimanyu both shouted out their warnings as well, but it was too late. All of the enemy battalions were not ones who loved Vrishaketu like Uncle Duryodhan's son; seizing their opportunity, they swallowed up Vrishaketu as he willingly rode into their midst.

After that, Abhimanyu had no way of knowing whether Vrishaketu had returned to his senses and tried to break out, or still kept going forward to check on Lakshmana.

Side by side, Vrishasena and Abhimanyu's chariots charged at the wall of enemies as one.

***

By the time they had broken inside, Lakshmana seemed to have vanished; Vrishaketu's charioteer was dead, slumped half inside, half outside his seat. From the stationary chariot, Vrishaketu was shooting, surrounded in all directions.

At least he had come to his senses when it mattered, but there were too many to fight.

Abhimanyu, kicking the legion of spear wielders blocking the way between him and his friend, glanced up anxiously and saw it in slow motion as a spear, uncannily similar to how Uttar had been killed, went inside his friend's side.

Then Abhimanyu knew what it meant to truly lose your mind.

He had not gotten to Uttar in time, but he would get to Vrishaketu.

His father's advice about aiding allies in war blurred in Abhimanyu's head; Vrishasena's scream of his brother's name faded in Abhimanyu's ears; the barrage of two dozen arrows Vrishasena shot to kill everyone in his brother's vicinity blurred in Abhimanyu's eyes, because he had only one thought in his mind.

Get to Vrish. 

I will get to Vrish.

He pushed his charioteer aside to catch hold of the reigns and urged the horses to plough straight through the soldiers in front. There was a mini stampede as they scrambled out of the raging horses' way.

Vrishaketu was kneeling on the base of the chariot in a daze. His side was soaked with blood, but the spear had not gone in too deep; Vrishasena had apparently managed to shoot down its wielder in time.

"Vrish!" Abhimanyu reached out to drag his friend into his chariot. He felt like dead weight and did nothing to cooperate. "Are you okay? Vrish, talk to me!"

Vrishaketu slumped into his arms.

"Vrish, please, please talk to me--"

"Abhi?"

Relief paralyzed Abhimanyu.

"Stay with me," he commanded. "Keep talking."

"I did not mean to hurt him."

"I know--and he knows that--" 

But Abhimanyu had to focus now not upon comforting his friend, but getting out of this place. 

His charioteer had taken the reigns again.

"Sarathi, just get us out of here."

Abhimanyu tried to balance Vrishaketu's body against him and take up his bow and arrow against the enemy warriors rushing to take the place of the ones Vrishasena had slain. Vrishaketu almost lurched off the chariot; Abhimanyu caught him just in time.

"I'll hold them off," Vrishasena shouted. "Go, Abhi!"

He must have been using a celestial weapon, too, because their enemies fell faster than the Trigarta army had fallen earlier today.

Abhimanyu took up a sword, adjusted their positions to make Vrishaketu more comfortable and told his charioteer to go faster. Vrishaketu's blood turned his own clothes red, too.

"I did not mean to hurt him," Vrishaketu said again, under his breath. "I did not realize he was there with the squad. Bhrata Lakshmana is going to be okay, isn't he, Abhi?"

You are going to be okay, aren't you, Vrish? Abhimanyu shouted inside his head.

"You idiot," he said instead. "He hardly got a scratch."

"Oh, thank heavens. I will go and tell him I am sorry after sundown today. How long to go for the end of today's battle?"

Abhimanyu glanced up at the sky, tightening his hold on Vrishaketu's limp body as the chariot rode over a particularly bumpy part with one hand and keeping the sword raised in the other to slay anyone who tried to stop their racing chariot.

The sword was not his cup of tea, but he had only one hand free.

"Maybe half an hour," he said grimly. 

"Why are you...not laughing?" said Vrishaketu in a rather feverish manner. "It's weird...when you don't laugh, Abhi..."

Terror made Abhimanyu break into a hysterical sort of laughter. Vrishaketu smiled, too, though his eyes remained closed and his head as heavy.

"Jyesht," screamed Abhimanyu, spotting Prativindhya as they flew past. "Tell Uncle Nakul or Uncle Sahadev to return to the camp as soon as possible!"

"Why are you shouting?" Vrishaketu asked, voice getting weaker. "What's wrong?"

They had exited the major warzone now. Abhimanyu looked back anxiously. Vrishasena must have exerted a stupendous effort that they did not have any pursuers.

Soon, they would have reached the camp safely.

"I'll tell you what's wrong," he muttered to his friend fiercely. "You just wait."

Vrishaketu seemed to have passed out; there was no answer.